Tul
by Padme Nijiri
Summary: Tul. Na'vi for "Run." Before Jake officially joins the Omaticaya, he tells Neytiri about his life on earth.


I have been seeing blue people and flying beasts in my head. I can't get the little jelly-fish seeds out of my head. So to these visions I am trying to write…to get more of Pandora. I wanted to build on Jake and Neytiri's relationship. The movie shows them together a lot, but very little on conversations. I also find it weird that Jake would never talk to Neytiri about his life on Earth or his brother or where he goes when he leaves his Avatar.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or any of its characters or language.

****

Neytiri's bright yellow eyes greeted Jake as he became aware of his surroundings in his Avatar body. Instinctively, he wiggled his toes marveling once again that he could move the digits at all.

Jake sat up quickly, too quickly and smacked his head into the female Na'vi's chin. "Ow!" She yelped, instinctively pushing his head back down and causing the hammock to sway. "You move to quickly again, _skxawng_." Her blue body moved back in the hammock causing a little more swaying.

"I'm still _skxawng_ even though I now have bonded with _ikran_?" Jake rubbed his forehead, thinking about the magnificent beast he had tamed the day before.

Neytiri laughed in the morning light. "You will always be _skxawng_ to me. Come, we must teach you to fly!" With that, she jumped from the hammock to one of the nearby branches of hometree.

Jake moved to follow her, quickly grabbing his bow and knife from a storage vessel hanging off of the hammock he had been assigned. He jumped to the same branch and started to follow Neytiri up to the top of Hometree where their ikran's were waiting.

Soon, he caught up to the Na'vi female, tugging her tail gently to let her know he was behind her, even though she could hear him. He ducked the leg she aimed for his head and continued to climb to the top of _kelutral. _

Towards the top, Neytiri directed him away from the branch that held their _ikrans_ and toward a storage area. "This is where we keep the saddles when we do not ride _ikran_ for a long time. There are also several new saddles for you and the other new riders."

Jake nodded, hoping the saddle would facilitate flying with his _ikran_. "You will show me how to do it?" Jake ducked his head as he asked.

"Of course, _skxawng_." Her laugh was a treat for him. "Call your _ikran_ now, Jake. You should name him soon, too." Jake nodded and felt within himself for the part that called his _ikran_—Just as he could feel his human body, Jake now felt a connection to his _ikran_ in a similar manner, a mental bond that had formed with the physical one—but that could not be broken. A small corner of his Na'vi mind was always monitoring his _ikran_ now. He swore he could still feel the connection in his human body when he returned to it last night.

Jake called his _ikran_ and helped Neytiri find a saddle for the beast as they waited. Her banshee also arrived with his, the two beasts bellowed at each other and lashed their tails as they waited for Jake to outfit his _ikran_ with a saddle.

After many mistakes and a few head knocks from Neytiri, Jake finally was able to bond and mount his _ikran_. He heard Neytiri's cry of joy as she and Tze'ze launched themselves from the top of Hometree.

As Jake connected with _ikran_, his mind seemed to split. Part of him was still himself, but the other part with with the banshee under him. He was the powerful beast beneath him, and himself at the same time. The double vision had unnerved and confused him at first, however he had quickly adjusted in the first ten minutes of flight with his _ikran._ Jake knew that eventually he would be able to think of how he wanted his mount to fly, but for now using the military phrases he was comfortable with worked best for communicating with his mount. Neytiri still laughed at his need to voice commands with the direhorses when she and the other warriors only had to think the commands they wanted the beasts to follow.

He felt the leg muscles of the _ikran_ tense before they launched off of the tree branch and fall toward the foliage below. Quickly, Jake saw himself following Neytiri's _ikran_, simultaneously directing his banshee to fly after her. As the banshee pursued Tze'ze, Jake felt as if he were the one flapping his wings, lightly straining to keep up with the smaller, lighter female ahead of them. Jake also noticed something else about Tze'ze from his _ikran's _point of view, she was a vey attractive female _ikran_ with her green and black hide.

Suddenly, Tze'ze's tail smacked the side of Jake's head, no not his head, his banshee's head. Jake's _ikran_ snapped at the empty air and pumped his wings a little harder to fly abrest of her. His _ikran_ recognized the flirtatious move, but his avatar rider did not know if it was beast or rider that had directed it. Neytiri laughed in joy as she directed her_ ikran_ into the foliage below. "Now, I will show you how to hunt from the sky!"

Jake grabbed his bow from behind and intently listened to Neytiri's instructions for the next several hours.

****

"Catch, Jake!" Neytiri tossed him one of the native fruits from a nearby tree. As tired as his body was, he knew that Neytiri was going to give him a lesson on the Na'vi language and culture after a brief rest. He watched her blue body fold itself on the ground across from him. His attention was briefly arrested by a wood spire float by, the round shape briefly reminded him of a jelly fish as it propelled itself through the sky.

Neytiri watched the sprite in captivation for a moment before shaking her head. "Jake, are you happy here? Happy to learn about our way of life?" Her yellow eyes were once again trained on Jake.

Well, that was out of the blue. "I am fascinated by everything you do, Neytiri." His words were sincere, she did fascinate him. "You live so differently than I do, and this world—it is amazing in its beauty. There is nothing like this on earth anymore."

"Earth? You told me that is your planet. You know about our life, tell me about yours. Tell me where you go when you are not Dreamwalking with me." Neytiri inclined her head causing her pupils to dilate and her ears to perk up.

Jake felt panic grip his Na'vi heart for a moment, how could he tell her about his human body? "I go back to my human body. You know how the _Tawtute_ look. Not look like you at all; we are tiny and weak compared to Na'vi." Neytiri smiled at this. "Hell, we can't even breathe your air without special masks for our faces." Jake gestured like he was putting one on. Neytiri watched fascinated and nodded to encourage him to continue.

"You know I was a warrior, for the Jarhead clan, before I came here. I used to fight for peace for my planet." Jake paused at his words. Fight for peace? Fighting did not bring peace—it only brought more destruction until someone won, and ruled with might. "The Jarhead clan, it was also called the Marines. Everyone in there was a warrior."

Neytiri leaned closer. "What were you rites of passage like? You said there are no _ikran_ on earth, how did you prove you were worthy to be a warrior?" Her eyebrows furrowed together, ears dipping down.

Jake laughed, causing Neytiri to sit up. "I suppose boot-camp was our rite of passage. Boot camp is where I trained to be a warrior. I received top marks and earned the respect of the other warriors, until…" He trailed off, thinking about what had happened in South America.

Hey turned his head away from Neytiri, moving to stand, but she took her hand in his. Lacing her four fingers among his five, she tugged him back to the ground. "Jake, tell me why you seem sad. It is an honor to be a warrior for the Na'vi, is it not an honor to be a warrior for the _Tawtute_?"

Jake sighed, briefly running a hand through his braided hair. "It was an honor and then I was injured and I could not be a warrior anymore." He looked at Neytiri and saw the confusion.

"But you are a warrior once again, I do not understand. What is wrong with you?" Neytiri traced his palm with her fingers.

Jake fought with himself, how could he tell this beautiful woman that he was nothing? He could not walk in his human body, could not feel the shoes on his feet. "My other body, my human body is paralyzed."

"Para-leesed? Paralyzed? I do not know this word." Neytiri's accent blended the "i" sound to an "ee" before saying it correctly.

"No, I do not think you would…I cannot use my legs to walk or run in my human body. I used a chair with wheels to move around. If I had enough money—I could have had my legs fixed, but I didn't." There he said it. "I was no longer a warrior for the Jarhead clan, could not be a Marine anymore, when I was asked to come to Pandora, to your planet." Jake closed his eyes, surprised by the tear reflex his new body came with.

Neytiri's eyes seemed to soften at his words. "Oh Jake." She stood up abruptly pulling him to his feet. She had pulled him up to fast—Jake was so close to her. "Well, You can run now. Come!" And she was running through the green foliage, tail swinging behind her for balance.

"Here we go again." Jake smiled in spite of himself. Neytiri always made him feel better.

********

Finish. I hope I did justice to their characters.


End file.
